Pivoting Blender

ABSTRACT

A blender assembly includes a base and a blender pivotally mounted on the base such that the blender pivots in only a single plane. A magnetic locking assembly releasably locks the blender to the base and unlocks the blender from the base to allow the blender to pivot with respect to the base.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/784,392, filed on Oct. 16, 2017, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/349,042,filed on Nov. 11, 2016, which claims priority from U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/253,695, filed on Nov. 11, 2015, whichare all incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a blender for food processing, and, inparticular, to a blender that pivots relative to a mount to assist inprocessing food inside a blender.

Description of the Related Art

Blenders are often used in both home and industrial kitchens to processfood. Occasionally, however, food particles attach to the side walls ofthe blender or get stuck underneath the blender's cutting blades and, asa result, the food may not be properly blended. Presently, in order toproperly blend this food, the blender must be turned off, its lidremoved, and a spatula or other utensil must be inserted into theblender to manually scrape this food off the blender wall and away fromthe blades. This process is time consuming and presents the possibilityof contaminating the food if the utensil is dirty.

It would be beneficial to provide a blender that can knock loose theunblended food for ultimate blending without having to stop the blenderor insert a utensil into the blender to stir the food.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

In one embodiment, the present invention provides a blender assemblythat includes a motor mount pivotally mounted on a base, such that themotor mount is only pivotable in a front-to-back direction.

In an alternative embodiment, the present invention provides a blenderassembly that includes a motor mount pivotally mounted on a base, suchthat the motor mount is pivotable in a 360° motion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome more fully apparent from the following detailed description, theappended claims, and the accompanying drawings in which like referencenumerals identify similar or identical elements.

FIG. 1 shows a front elevational view of a blender assembly mounted on apivot stand according to a first exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a pivoting motor mount used in theblender assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a motor mount, partially insection, of the pivot stand, taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the motor mount used in the blenderassembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the blender assembly shown in FIG.1;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the blender assembly shown in FIG.1, with the blender pivoted in a backwards position;

FIG. 7 shows a front elevational view, partially in section, of ablender assembly mounted on a pivot base according to a second exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows a sectional view of the blender assembly shown in FIG. 7,taken along lines. 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 shows a side elevational view, partially in section, of theblender assembly shown FIG. 7, with the blender pivoted in a backwardsposition;

FIG. 10 is a front elevational view of a blender assembly mounted on apivot base according to a third exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the blender assembly shown in FIG.10;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a blender motor for use with theblender assembly shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a pivot base for use with the blenderassembly shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 14 is a side elevational view of the blender assembly shown in FIG.10, with the blender and blender motor in a pivoted position;

FIG. 15 is a front elevational view of a blender assembly mounted on apivot base according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, with the base disengaged from the blender motor assembly;

FIG. 16 is a front elevational view of the blender assembly shown inFIG. 15, with the base engaged with the blender motor assembly;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a button assembly used to releasablylock base to the blender motor assembly;

FIG. 18 is a side elevational view of a button and biasing member usedin the button assembly shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a side elevational view of a housing used with the buttonassembly shown in FIG. 17, opened up to show a cam profile;

FIG. 20 is a side elevational view of the blender assembly shown in FIG.15;

FIG. 21 is a top plan view of a blender assembly mounted on a pivot baseaccording to a fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a front elevational view of a blender assembly mounted on apivot base according to a sixth exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 23 is a front elevational view, partially in section, of a blenderassembly mounted on a pivot base according to a seventh exemplaryembodiment of the present invention in a locked position;

FIG. 24 is a front elevational view, partially in section, of theblender assembly shown in FIG. 23 is an unlocked and pivoted position;

FIG. 25 is a front elevational view of a blender assembly mounted on apivot base according to an eighth exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 26 is a side elevational view of the blender assembly shown in FIG.25;

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of a blender motor for use with theblender assembly shown in FIG. 25;

FIG. 28 is a perspective view of a pivot base for use with the blenderassembly shown in FIG. 25;

FIG. 29 is a side elevational view of a blender assembly mounted on apivot base according to a ninth exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 30 is a front elevational view of the blender assembly shown inFIG. 29;

FIG. 30A is a side elevational view of the blender motor assembly of theassembly of FIG. 29, taken along lines 30A-30A of FIG. 30; and

FIG. 31 is a side elevational view of the blender assembly of FIG. 31,with the blender in a forward tilted position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In the drawings, like numerals indicate like elements throughout.Certain terminology is used herein for convenience only and is not to betaken as a limitation on the present invention. The terminology includesthe words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words ofsimilar import. The embodiments illustrated below are not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed.These embodiments are chosen and described to best explain the principleof the invention and its application and practical use and to enableothers skilled in the art to best utilize the invention.

Reference herein to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of theinvention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments necessarilymutually exclusive of other embodiments. The same applies to the term“implementation.”

As used in this application, the word “exemplary” is used herein to meanserving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or designdescribed herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use ofthe word exemplary is intended to present concepts in a concretefashion.

Additionally, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or”. That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the naturalinclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or Xemploys both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any ofthe foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as usedin this application and the appended claims should generally beconstrued to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear fromcontext to be directed to a singular form.

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, each numerical value and rangeshould be interpreted as being approximate as if the word “about” or“approximately” preceded the value of the value or range.

The use of figure numbers and/or figure reference labels in the claimsis intended to identify one or more possible embodiments of the claimedsubject matter in order to facilitate the interpretation of the claims.Such use is not to be construed as necessarily limiting the scope ofthose claims to the embodiments shown in the corresponding figures.

It should be understood that the steps of the exemplary methods setforth herein are not necessarily required to be performed in the orderdescribed, and the order of the steps of such methods should beunderstood to be merely exemplary. Likewise, additional steps may beincluded in such methods, and certain steps may be omitted or combined,in methods consistent with various embodiments of the present invention.

Although the elements in the following method claims, if any, arerecited in a particular sequence with corresponding labeling, unless theclaim recitations otherwise imply a particular sequence for implementingsome or all of those elements, those elements are not necessarilyintended to be limited to being implemented in that particular sequence.

Also for purposes of this description, the terms “couple,” “coupling,”“coupled,” “connect,” “connecting,” or “connected” refer to any mannerknown in the art or later developed in which energy is allowed to betransferred between two or more elements, and the interposition of oneor more additional elements is contemplated, although not required.Conversely, the terms “directly coupled,” “directly connected,” etc.,imply the absence of such additional elements.

Referring to FIGS. 1-6, a blender assembly 100 according to a firstexemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown. Blender assembly100 includes a pivoting mechanism that allows the user to rock theblending portion of blender assembly 100 in a front-to-back directionand to forcefully engage the blending portion with a hard stop to knockloose any food particles that may be attached to the sidewalls of theblender container.

Blender assembly 100 includes a blending portion 102 that includes ablender container 110 releasably mountable onto a pivoting blender motorassembly 120. Blender container 110 can be any known blender that isused to process food inserted therein and is not necessarily the scopeof the present invention, and need not be described in detail.

Pivoting blender motor assembly 120 is pivotally mounted onto a pivotbase 150 such that blender motor assembly 120 pivots in only a singleplane, such as for example, in a front-to-back direction. The pivotingis performed by hand, in the absence of any motors, gears, or othermechanical or electromechanical devices to physically pivot blendermotor assembly 120 with respect to pivot base 150.

Pivot base 150 can be mounted on a flat surface, such as, for example, atabletop. In a commercial environment, pivot base 150 can be fixedlymounted to the flat surface, although those skilled in the art willrecognize that pivot base 150 can be removably placed on the flatsurface.

Referring to FIG. 2, blender motor assembly 120 includes a housing 122that contains a motor (not shown) for operating blender assembly 100.The motor is operatively coupled to a rotating clutch 124 that engageswith a rotating clutch (not shown) on the bottom of blender container110 in order to rotate a blade (not shown) inside blender container 110.A motor control button panel 126 is mounted on housing 122 and containsa plurality of buttons 128 that are used to control the motor.

Blender motor assembly 120 also includes a pair of side flanges 130 thatextend outwardly from housing 122. Side flanges 130 are generallyelongate parallelepiped members that extend diametrically opposite fromeach other. Side flanges 130 are used to engage with pivot base 150 inorder to effect a desired “banging” of blender motor assembly 120against pivot base 150 in order to knock food loose that may be stuck tothe side wall of blender container 110. A pivot pin 132 extendsoutwardly from the base of each flange 130. Pivot pins 132 are axiallyaligned and each pivot pin 132 extends into pivot base 150, allowingblender motor assembly 120 to pivot relative to pivot base 150.

Bottom portion 134 of blender motor assembly 120 can be weighted suchthat the center of gravity of blender motor assembly 120 is at or belowthe vertical height of pivot pins 132, such that, in an unbiasedposition, blender motor assembly 120 extends generally in a verticalposition, with bottom portion 134, being located vertically belowrotating clutch 124. The motor (not shown) can be located toward bottomportion 134 to assist in providing the desired weight.

In an alternative embodiment, bottom portion 134 of blender motorassembly 120 can be weighted such that, in addition to the center ofgravity of blender motor assembly 120 being at or below the verticalheight of pivot pins 132, the center of gravity is located forward ofpivot pins 132, toward motor control button panel 126, such that, in anunbiased position, blender motor assembly 120 is pivoted such thatblender container 110 is angled toward the user, enabling the user tolook into blender container 110 without having to lean over blenderassembly 100.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, pivot base 150 is shown. Pivot base 150 hasa generally U-shaped configuration, with a base portion 152 having aflat bottom surface 154 adapted to allow blender assembly 100 to sit ona flat, planar surface. A pair of generally parallel, upright extendingsidewalls 156. Each extends upwardly from bottom surface 154. Space 158between the two sidewalls 156 is sized to allow blender motor assembly120 to freely fit therebetween.

As shown in FIG. 3, each sidewall 156 includes a front portion 158 and arear portion 160, with a generally “V-shaped” notch 162 formedtherebetween. Notch 162 is formed by a front stop 164 and a rear stop166 that extend downward at an angle β relative to each other such thatfront stop 164 and rear stop 166 restrict the pivoting of blender motorassembly 120 with respect to base 150. Blender motor assembly 120 canpivot no more than about β/2 degrees from the vertical. In an exemplaryembodiment, angle β can be about 45° and angle β/2 is about 22.5°,although those skilled in the art will recognize that angle β can beother angles as well.

A pivot mount 168 is located at the confluence of front stop 164, and166 includes a pivot pin hole 170 into which a pivot pin 132 isinserted. With blender motor assembly 120 inserted into pivot base 150,as shown FIG. 1, each flange 130 is located within notch 162, with a topportion of flange 130 extending upwardly above its respective sidewall156.

To operate blender assembly 100, blender container 110 is inserted ontoclutch 124 on top of blender motor assembly 120. Food/liquid is added toblender container 110 and a lid (not shown) is placed over top ofblender container 110. A user selects a desired button 128 on motorcontrol button panel 126 to start the motor and blend the food withinblender container 110.

As the food/liquid is being blended, the user grips at least one of theflanges 130 above sidewall 156 and rocks flange 130 back and forth in aforward-to-backward motion, alternatively banging flange against frontstop 164, and rear stop 166 to dislodge any food product that may bestuck on the sidewall of blender container 110 or possibly wedgedunderneath the cutting blade within blender container 110. FIG. 6 showsblender container 110 with blender motor assembly 120 pivoted againstrear stop 166.

When the food inside blender container 110 is sufficiently blended, theuser stops rocking flange 130, and pushes a “Stop” button 128 on motorbutton control panel 126.

Referring to FIGS. 7-9, a blender assembly 200 according to a secondexemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown. Blender assembly200 includes a pivoting mechanism that allows the user to rock theblending portion of blender assembly 200 in infinite directions and toforcefully engage the blending portion with a hard stop to knock looseany food particles that may be attached to the sidewalls of the blendercontainer.

Blender assembly 200 includes blending portion 102 that includes blendercontainer 110 releasably mountable onto a pivoting blender motorassembly 220.

Pivoting blender motor assembly 220 is pivotally mounted onto a pivotbase 250. Pivot base 250 can be mounted on a flat surface, such as, forexample, a tabletop. In a commercial environment, pivot base 250 can befixedly mounted to the flat surface, although those skilled in the artwill recognize that pivot base 250 can be removably placed on the flatsurface.

Referring to FIG. 7, blender motor assembly 220 includes a housing 222that contains a motor (not shown) for operating blender assembly 200. Amotor control button panel 226 is mounted on a platform 227, locateddirectly above housing 222 and contains a plurality of buttons 228 thatare used to control the motor. Housing 222 is generally ball-shaped andhas a diameter D1, and can be constructed from and/or coated with alow-friction material, such as, for example, nylon. Platform 227 has alower engagement surface 230 that engages a top surface 260 of pivotbase 250 when blender motor assembly 220 is pivoted relative to pivotbase 250.

Pivot base 250 includes a curved, concave pivot surface 254 that extendsover an arc of greater than 180° and, preferably, greater than about220°, forming an opening 255 having a diameter D2, which is smaller thanD1 such that housing 222 cannot be removed from pivot base 250. Pivotsurface 254 has diameter D1 sufficiently large to accommodate housing222, yet allows housing 222 to rotate freely within a space 256 definedby pivot surface 254.

Similar to housing 222, pivot surface 254 can be constructed from and/orcoated with a low friction material, such as, for example, nylon. Thelow friction surfaces of housing 222 and/or pivot surface 254 allowblender motor assembly 222 pivot freely along any orientation relativeto pivot base 250.

A top surface 260 of pivot base 250 is beveled concentrically around itsouter perimeter to provide a frustoconical top surface, thereby allowingblender container 110 to pivot with blender motor assembly 220 in anydirection relative to the vertical, as shown FIG. 9.

Housing 222 of blender motor assembly 220 can be weighted such that thecenter of gravity of blender motor assembly 220 is at or below thegeometric center of housing 222, such that, in an unbiased position,blender motor assembly 220 extends generally in a vertical position.

In operation, blender container 110 is inserted onto blender motorassembly 220. Food/liquid is added to blender container 110 and a lid(not shown) is placed over top of blender container 110. A user selectsa desired button 228 on motor control button panel 226 to start themotor and blend the food within blender container 110.

Lower engagement surface 230 can be banged against pivot surface 254 inorder to shake loose food particles that may be stuck inside blender110. Alternatively, blender 110 and blender motor assembly 220 can bepivoted such that lower engagement surface 230 engages pivot surface 254and then blender 110 can be rotated such that lower engagement surface230 slides around the perimeter of pivot surface 254.

When the food inside blender container 110 is sufficiently blended, theuser rotates blender and blender motor assembly 220 to a verticalposition, and pushes a “Stop” button 228 on motor button control panel226.

A third exemplary embodiment of a pivoting blender assembly 300according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 10-14. Blenderassembly 300 includes a blender 310 releasably mounted on a blendermotor assembly 320. Blender motor assembly 320 is pivotally mounted ontoa pivot base 350 such that blender 310 and motor assembly 320 can pivotin only a single plane, in a front-to-back direction.

Referring to FIG. 12, motor assembly 320 includes a pair of axiallyaligned pivot pins 322 that each extend outwardly from motor assembly320. Each pivot pin 322 extends into pivot base 350, allowing blendermotor assembly 320 to pivot relative to pivot base 350.

Pivot base 350 is shown in FIG. 13. Pivot base 350 is generallyU'shaped, with a left side wall 352, a right side wall 354, and a rearwall 356. Rear wall 356 includes an engagement surface 358. Engagementsurface 358 is used to engage either blender 310 or motor assembly 320during pivoting of blender 310 and motor assembly 320 and act as a stop.While engagement surface 358 is shown in FIG. 13 as an edge, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that engagement surface 358 can bebeveled, similar to top surface 260 of pivot base 250, as describedabove.

A front of base 350 is open to allow motor assembly 320 to pivot. Eachside wall 352, 354 includes a receiver 362, 364 respectively (receiver362 shown in FIG. 11) that is aligned and sized to accept a pivot pin322 so that motor assembly 320 can pivot on pivot base 350.

At least one flange 366 extends outwardly from one of side walls 352,354 inwardly into pivot base 350. Flange 366 is located below receivers362, 364 and is between receivers 362, 364 and rear wall 356 so thatmotor assembly 320 cannot be pivoted toward rear wall 356. Flange 366acts as a stop to prevent pivoting motor assembly 320 in that direction.While a single flange 366 is shown extending from left side wall 352,those skilled in the art will recognize that flange 366 can extend fromright side wall 354, or both side walls 352, 354.

The degree of pivoting of blender 310 and motor assembly 320 depends onthe distance of engagement surface 358 from receivers 362, 364, as wellas the height of rear wall 356. A shorter distance between receivers362, 364 and/or a higher height of rear wall 356 results in less pivotability, while a greater distance between receivers 362, 364 and/or alower height of rear wall 356 results in more pivot ability. In anexemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, blender 310 and motorassembly 320 can pivot between about 20 degrees and about 45 degreesbetween flange 366 and engagement surface 358.

An alternative embodiment of a blender assembly 400 is shown in FIGS.15-20. Assembly 400 is similar to assembly 100 with the addition of alocking mechanism 470 that releasably locks a blender motor assembly 420to its respective base 450. In a locked position, blender motor assembly420 and a blender container 410 mounted on blender motor assembly 420can be fixed in a vertical position as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16. Lockingmechanism 470 includes a button assembly 472 that can be pushed toalternately engage blender motor assembly 420 and disengage blendermotor assembly 420. Locking mechanism 470 also includes a receiver 473that is sized to receive button assembly 472 to lock blender motorassembly 420 to base 450.

An exemplary button assembly 472 is shown in FIG. 17 and includes anelongate button 474 (shown in FIG. 18) having an external end 476 and aninternal, blender motor assembly end 478. External end 476 has a largerdiameter than blender motor assembly end 478 such that a lip 479 isformed at an intersection of external end 476 and blender motor assemblyend 478.

Button 474 includes a circular groove 480 in which a ball 482 rolls asbutton assembly 472 is activated. Ball 482 is sized such that a portionof ball 482 extends outwardly of groove. 480.

Button 474 is inserted into a cylindrical outer housing 484 that has acam groove 486 formed therein. Cam groove 486 is located such that theportion of ball 482 that extends outwardly of groove 480 rides in camgroove 486. An exemplary profile of cam groove 486 is shown in FIG. 19,although those skilled in the art will recognize that other profiles ofcam groove 486 can be provided. A biasing member 490 in the form of ahelical spring biases button 474 away from blender motor assembly 420. Afirst end of biasing member 490 engages lip 479 and a second end ofbiasing member 490 engages base 450.

When button 474 is pushed, ball 482 is forced around groove 480 by camgroove 486. When ball 482 is in either position “A”, shown in FIG. 19,button 474 is in the disengaged position, with blender motor assemblyend 478 extending outwardly of receiver 473 so that blender motorassembly 420 is disengaged from base 450 (FIG. 15). When button 474 ispushed again, ball 482 is forced around groove 480 by cam groove 486 toposition “B”, where button 474 is in the engaged position, with blendermotor assembly end 478 extending into receiver 473 so that blender motorassembly 420 is fixed relative to base 450 (FIG. 16).

While button assembly 472 is shown, those skilled in the art willrecognize that other types of assemblies such as, for example, aballpoint pen push button assembly, can be used as well.

As shown in FIG. 20, base 420 can include a plurality of receivers 473arranged in an arc so that, depending on which of the receivers 473 intowhich blender motor assembly end 478 is inserted, blender container 410can be locked in a vertical position (as shown in FIG. 20) or,alternatively, blender container 410 can be angled vertically in alocked position with respect to base 420.

An alternative embodiment of a blender assembly 500 is shown in FIG. 21.Assembly 500 is similar to assembly 400 but includes a locking mechanism570 that operates similarly to locking mechanism 470 discussed above.However, instead of locking mechanism 470 that uses a single blendermotor assembly end 478, locking mechanism has two forked fingers 572that extend on either side of a flange 530 to secure blender container510 and blender motor assembly 520 in a vertical position. Forkedfingers 572 are angled inward toward each other to allow for slightangulation of blender container 510 and blender motor assembly 520 awayfrom the vertical as forked fingers 572 engage flange 530 and bringblender container 510 and blender motor assembly 520 to the vertical.

An alternative embodiment of a blender assembly 600 is shown in FIG. 22.Assembly 600 is similar to assembly 100 with the addition of a lockingmechanism 670 that releasably locks a blender motor assembly 620 to itsrespective base 650.

Locking mechanism 670 includes a nub 672 and a corresponding detent 674into which nub 672 is releasably insertable. While two diametricallyopposed locking mechanisms 670 are shown, those skilled in the art willrecognize that a single locking mechanism 674 can be used. Lockingmechanism 670 locks blender container 610 in a vertically uprightposition when nub 672 is inserted into detent. While nub 672 is largeenough to engage into detent 674 to secure blender motor assembly 620 toits respective base 650, detent 672 is small enough such that a usercan, with a minimal amount of effort, pivot blender container 610 sothat nub 672 is released from detent 674, allowing blender container 610and blender motor assembly 620 to pivot with respect to base 650.

Referring now to FIGS. 23 and 24, an alternative embodiment of a blenderassembly 700 is shown. Assembly 700 is similar to assembly 200, but alsoincludes a locking mechanism 770 similar to locking mechanism 570. Ball722 includes a receiver 773 for receiving a blender motor assembly end578, similar to blender motor assembly end 478, but with a tapered tip778 for insertion into receiver 573.

FIG. 23 shows blender assembly 700 with blender container 710 and base750 in a locked and vertical position, while FIG. 24 shows blenderassembly 700 in an unlocked and pivoted position.

An eighth exemplary embodiment of a pivoting blender assembly 800according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 25-28. Blenderassembly 800 includes a blender 810 mounted on a blender motor assembly820. Blender motor assembly 820 is pivotally mounted onto a pivot base850 such that blender 810 and motor assembly 820 can pivot in only asingle plane, in a front-to-back direction.

Referring to FIG. 25, motor assembly 820 includes a pair of axiallyaligned pivot pins 822 that each extend outwardly from motor assembly820. Each pivot pin 822 extends into pivot base 850, allowing blendermotor assembly 820 to pivot relative to pivot base 850. Magnets 870extend outwardly from side walls 852, 854 of pivot base 850.Magnetically attractive material 872 extends outwardly from motorassembly 820, such that, when blender 810 and motor assembly 820 are inan upright position, magnets 870 and magnetically attractive material872 are co-axially aligned.

Pivot base 850 is shown in FIG. 28. Pivot base 850 is generallyU-shaped, with left side wall 852, right side wall 854, and a rear wall856. Rear wall 856 includes an engagement surface 858. Engagementsurface 858 is used to engage either blender 810 or motor assembly 820during pivoting of blender 810 and motor assembly 820 and act as a stop.While engagement surface 858 is shown in FIG. 28 as an edge, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that engagement surface 858 can bebeveled, similar to top surface 260 of pivot base 250, as describedabove.

Referring to FIG. 28, front of base 850 is open to allow motor assembly820 to pivot. Each side wall 852, 854 includes a receiver 862 (onereceiver 862 shown in FIG. 28) that is aligned and sized to accept apivot pin 822 so that motor assembly 820 can pivot on pivot base 850.

The degree of pivoting of blender 810 and motor assembly 820 depends onthe distance of engagement surface 858 from receivers 862, as well asthe height of rear wall 856. A shorter distance between receivers 862and/or a higher height of rear wall 856 results in less pivot ability,while a greater distance between receivers 862 and/or a lower height ofrear wall 856 results in more pivot ability.

When blender 810 and motor assembly 820 are in the upright and verticalposition, as shown in FIG. 25, magnets 870 attract magneticallyattractive material 872 to retain blender 810 and motor assembly 820 inthe upright and vertical position. To pivot blender 810, a user has toexert sufficient force to overcome the magnetic attractiveness betweenmagnets 870 and magnetically attractive material 872. When the userreleases blender 810, the weight of motor assembly 820 returns motorassembly 820 to a position wherein magnets 870 readily engagemagnetically attractive material 872, stabilizing blender 810 in anupright position.

While an upright position of blender 810 is contemplated, those skilledin the art will recognize the blender 810 can also be mounted so thatblender 810 is slightly tilted with respect to the vertical.

A ninth exemplary embodiment of a pivoting blender assembly 900according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 29-31. Assembly 900includes a blender 910 mounted on a blender motor assembly 920. Blendermotor assembly 920 is pivotally mounted onto a pivot base 950 on pivotsupports 951, 953 such that blender 910 and motor assembly 920 can pivotin only a single plane, in a front-to-back direction.

Pivot base 950 includes a fulcrum assembly 952 that extends upwardlyfrom a forward face 954 of pivot base 950. Fulcrum assembly 952 includesa left fulcrum arm 956 and a right fulcrum arm 958 that extend on eitherside of blender motor assembly 920. Fulcrum arms 956, 958 are connectedto each other along a base 959. A fixed handle 960 extends generallyhorizontally across the forward face 962 of blender motor assembly 920.

A pivot handle 970 extends generally horizontally across a forward face962 of blender motor assembly 920 above fixed handle 960. Pivot handle970 includes a right handle arm 972 pivotally connected to a right sideof blender motor assembly 920 at a pivot 979 and a left handle arm 974pivotally connected to a right side of blender motor assembly 920 at apivot 981 so that, when pivot handle 970 is pulled downward toward fixedhandle 960, pivot handle 970 pivots downwardly toward fixed handle 960.

Right handle arm 972 extends under blender motor assembly 920 and meetswith left handle arm 974 under the bottom surface 975 of blender motorassembly 920 at a magnetically attractive material 976. A biasing member978 is disposed between pivot handle 970 and fixed handle 960 to biasmagnetically attractive material 976 away from bottom surface 975 ofblender motor assembly 950. In an exemplary embodiment, biasing member978 can be a helical spring, although those skilled in the art willrecognize that other biasing members can be used to bias magneticallyattractive material 976 away from bottom surface 975 of blender motorassembly 950.

A longitudinal recess 985 is formed in bottom surface 975 of blendermotor assembly 950 to allow right handle arm 972 and left handle arm 974that extend under bottom surface 975 of blender motor assembly 920 tonest in recess 985 when pivot handle 970 is depressed toward fixedhandle 960.

A magnet 980 is centered along a top surface 988 of base 959 tomagnetically engage magnetically attractive material 976 andmagnetically releasably secure blender motor assembly 920 to pivot base950. When pivot handle 970 is not depressed toward fixed handle 960,magnet 980 engages magnetically attractive material 976 and retainsblender motor assembly 920 on top of pivot base 950. A user has to breakthe force of magnetic attraction between magnet 980 and magneticallyattractive material 976 in order to be able to pivot blender motorassembly 920 with respect to pivot base 950. In an exemplary embodiment,both magnet 980 and magnetically attractive material 976 are locateddistal from handles 970, 960 to increase the amount of torque requiredto overcome that magnetic attraction.

To break the force of magnetic attraction and to allow blender 910 topivot relative to pivot base 950, as shown in FIG. 31, a user graspsboth fixed handle 960 and pivot handle 970 and biases pivot handle 970toward fixed handle 960, handle arms 972, 974 pivot relative to blendermotor assembly 920 and into recess 985, allowing magnetically attractivematerial 976 to break away from magnet 980. The user is then free torock blender motor assembly 920 with blender 910 back and forth to freefood particles that may be stuck to the side wall of blender 910.

The weight distribution of the blender motor assembly 920 and blender910, along with the biasing effect of biasing member 978, is such that,when the user releases pivot handle 970, arms 972, 974 with magneticallyattractive material 976 drop out of recess 985 and the blender motorassembly 920 pivots so that magnet 980 engages magnetically attractivematerial 976 to releasably secure blender motor assembly 920 to pivotbase 950.

While blender assemblies 100-900 are contemplated for use on acountertop for personal or small batch use, those skilled in the artwill recognize that blender assemblies 100-900 can be scaled up in sizeand mounted on a floor for industrial applications.

It will be further understood that various changes in the details,materials, and arrangements of the parts which have been described andillustrated in order to explain the nature of this invention may be madeby those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of theinvention as expressed in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A blender assembly comprising: a base; a blenderassembly pivotally mounted on the base such that the blender pivots inonly a single plane; and a magnetic locking assembly releasably securingthe blender to the base to allow the blender to pivot with respect tothe base.
 2. The blender assembly according to claim 1, wherein themagnetic locking assembly comprises a magnetically attractive materialmounted on the base and a magnet mounted on the blender assembly suchthat, when the blender is in an upright and vertical position, themagnet is aligned with the magnetically attractive material.
 3. Theblender assembly according to claim 2, wherein the base comprises a basehandle and the blender assembly comprises a blender handle such that,when the blender handle is urged toward the base handle, themagnetically attractive material is pivoted away from the magnet.
 4. Theblender assembly according to claim 3, wherein when the blender motorassembly handle is released, the magnetically attractive materialengages the magnet.
 5. The blender assembly according to claim 2,wherein the base comprises at least one side wall and wherein the magnetis disposed in the side wall.
 6. The blender assembly according to claim1, wherein the base comprises a pivot arm and wherein the blenderassembly is mounted on the pivot arm.